1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable garage screen that can be installed inside a garage at a garage door opening where an existing overhead garage door is already installed without interfering with the operation of the existing garage door. The present invention installs just above an existing overhead garage door and employs some of the same hardware used in installing an overhead garage door. The screen door of the present invention is provided with a center zipper that allows the garage screen door to be retracted around the existing sectional door mechanism and also serves as a door for passing through the screen door when the screen door is in use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of screens have been proposed for installation at a garage door opening. Some of these screens attach directly to the garage door opening via hook and loop closures or other similar means. These screens have the disadvantage that they must be installed on the outside of the garage door opening so as not to interfere with the operation of an overhead garage door that is installed in the opening. Another disadvantage of these types of screens is that they have to be removed in order for a vehicle to be admitted or removed from the garage. And once they are removed, they must be stored somewhere.
To address the removal and storage problems, other screens have been designed to be retractable and are mounted on the outside of the garage opening so that they do not interfere with the operation of the overhead garage door that is mounted on the inside of the opening. These screens are visible from the outside of the building and undesirable esthetically.
Other screens that have been proposed are integrated into the same track system as the existing overhead garage door. These screens are difficult and expensive to install since the existing overhead garage door and its tracks must be removed and replaced in order to install these types of screens.
The present invention addresses all of these problems by providing an inside mounted retractable screen that quickly installs above an existing overhead garage door without modifying or interfering with the existing overhead garage door. The invention is a retractable screen that automatically rolls up above the existing overhead garage door when the screen is not in use. The invention is provided with a vertical center zipper that allows the garage screen to be retracted around the existing sectional door mechanism when the screen is not in use and also serves as a door for passing through the screen when the screen is in use.
Further, the present invention can be installed at a low cost because it employs many of the same standard parts employed to install an overhead garage door. Because installers already have many of the standard parts needed to install the present screen, the screen kit can be shipped to installers without those standard parts, thus greatly reducing the size of the shipping package and the shipping costs.
The present invention is a retractable garage screen that installs inside a garage at a garage door opening where an existing overhead garage door is already installed. The present invention installs just above an existing overhead garage door without interfering with the operation of the existing garage door. The screen is installed employing some of the same hardware used in installing an overhead garage door and employing some new items. The screen door of the present invention is provided with a center zipper that allows the garage screen door to be retracted around the existing sectional door mechanism and also serves as a door through which people can pass when the screen is in use.
The screen door attaches to a pair of rotatable drums via hook and loop fasteners. Each drum is preferably constructed of a length of 3 inch ID schedule 40 PVC pipe. The drums are provided on a tube so that the drums rotate in conjunction with the tube. The tube is rotatably fastened to either the wall of the garage or to the ceiling of the garage adjacent the garage door opening and just above the existing overhead garage door mechanism. The tube fastens to either the wall or ceiling via two end bearing plates and via a center bearing plate. The tube extends beyond a first end bearing plate and is provided with a pulley attached to the tube so that the tube rotates in conjunction with rotation of the pulley. A chain is provided around the pulley as a means of rotating the pulley. If the pulley is manually operated by a chain, a chain locking bracket is attached to the inside of the wall of the garage to removably receive the chain in order to prevent the pulley and tube from rotating. Optionally, although not illustrated, the pulley can be operated via an electric motor instead of by manually pulling the chain.
Each of the drums is attached on one end of the drum to the tube via a first end drum hub. These end drum hubs are each provided with threaded bolt openings extending therethrough. Bolts threadably engage these threaded bolt openings and tighten against the tube as a means of securing the end drum hubs to the tube. The bolt openings are located approximately at right angles to each other so that when the bolts tighten in the threaded bolt openings, the bolts engage the tube and thereby secure the end drum hubs to the tube. The end drum hubs are, in turn, secured to the drums via pop rivets that extend through the drums and engage the end drum hubs.
One of the drums is provided with a second end drum hub on its opposite end that attaches that end of the drum to the tube in the same manner as described previously for the first end of the drums.
The other drum is provided with a specially designed center end cone and spring assembly via which that second drum is supported by the spring assembly which is secured to the tube and to the center bearing plate, as will be described more fully hereafter.
The spring assembly consists of the center end cone, a spring tube, a specially designed fastening cone, a spring, and several washers.
The center end cone has an approximately 1 inch diameter bearing on one end of the center end cone and is provided with a flange having bolt openings therethrough on the other end of the center end cone. The flange fastens to the center bearing plate via bolts. A spring opening is provided in the center end cone to allow one end of the spring to be attached to the center end cone.
The spring tube is approximately 36 inches long and preferably constructed of 2 inch ID PVC pipe. One end of the spring tube is provided with an approximately 1 inch diameter bearing that mates race to race with the bearing provided in the center end cone.
The fastening cone has threaded bolt openings extending therethrough to attach the fastening cone to the tube via bolts that engage the threaded bolt openings. The bolts are tightened so that the threaded end of the bolt contacts the tube and thereby secures the fastening cone to the tube. A spring opening is provided in the fastening cone to allow a second end of the spring to be attached to the fastening cone, and via the fastening cone, to the tube.
The spring attaches, as previously described, on one end to the center end cone and on its opposite second end to the fastening cone. Several washers are placed around the abutting bearing of the center end cone and bearing of the spring tube to serve as spacers so that the spring, which encircles the spring tube, will not become entangled between the center end cone and the spring tube and will not interfere with the functioning of the underlying bearings. Approximately four washers are needed for this purpose and they prevent the spring from deforming over time.
The spring of the spring assembly is prestretched but not preloaded when the spring assembly is attached to the tube and the associated drum is placed over the spring assembly. Prestretching the spring of the spring assembly is necessary because the spring will lengthen as it is loaded, i.e. twisted to place a torque on the spring. The spring is not loaded until the spring assembly is inserted inside the drum. Therefore, if the spring is not prestretched, it would cause the spring to bind in its coils and not function properly. Instead, by prestretching the spring, the spring remains within the drum and provides a torque force to rotate the attached tube, drums, and screen door.
The spring tube holds the center end cone and fastening cone apart a specific distance which is normally approximately 2xc2xd to 3 inches longer than the non-stretched spring. The spring manufacturer dictates the specific distance that a particular type of spring should be stretched. The spring is then inserted over the spring tube and the two ends of the spring are fastened to the center end cone and the fastening cone. In order for the ends of the spring to be fastened to the cones, the spring must be stretched.
Once the ends of the spring are fastened to the cones, via the spring openings provided in the cones, the spring is prevented from returning to its pre-stretched length by the spring tube which holds the two cones apart. The spring tube engages the center end cone via their respective bearings and engages the fastening cone by a first shoulder provided on the fastening cone for this specific purpose. A second shoulder is provided on the fastening cone to prevent that end of the spring from being pushed off of the fastening cone. Likewise, the flange on the center end cone prevents the spring opposite end of the spring from being pushed off of the center end cone.
Opposite ends of the tube are rotatably supported to the inside wall or ceiling of the garage by end bearing plates having bearings therein through which the tube extends. One of the ends of the tube is attached to a pulley that is provided with a pulley chain or other suitable means for rotating the pulley.
Once the spring assembly has been attached to the tube and to the center end cone and the tube has been secured via the end bearing plates to the garage wall or ceiling, the spring is then ready to be loaded. This is done by turning the tube via the attached pulley and pulley chain. In order to properly load the spring, the drum should be rotated by the installer approximately ten to fifteen rotations. Once properly loaded, the spring tends to unwind. It is this tendency to unwind that assists the operator in opening the garage screen door. To ensure that the spring does not unwind until desired, the pulley chain is secured to a wall locking bracket provided for this purpose.
After the hardware has been thus installed, the garage screen door is then ready to be attached to the drums. Each screen door is provided with two upper portions of the screen door that are preferably constructed of vinyl or other water repellant material. The upper ends of each of the two upper portions of the screen door are provided with a strip of hook and loop fastening tape which mates with a corresponding strip of hook and loop fastening tape provided on each of the drums to thereby removably secure the screen door to the two drums. Hook and loop fastening tape is preferred as a means of securing the screen door to the drums because it allows the screen door to be removed and replaced easily in the event that the screen door becomes damaged and for ease of installation.
The remaining lower portions of the screen door are constructed of a woven mesh fabric. One fabric that has been shown suitable for this service is the TEXTILENE(copyright) woven polyester fabric available from Unitex or from Twitchell Corporation located at 4031 Ross Clark Circle N.W., Dothan, Ala. 36304. The screen door is provided centrally with a vertically oriented zipper that zips to close the screen door and unzips to allow people to pass through the screen door when the screen door is in use. The zipper also allows the lower portion of the screen door to be unzipped so that the lower portion can be separated in the middle to allow it to pass around a garage door opener bracket that is normally installed centered above the garage door opening. The garage door opener bracket attaches to the garage wall and hardware for a garage door opener mounts to the garage door opener bracket. It is important that the screen door be separated vertically in the middle and that the two halves of the screen door be able to pass around the garage door opener bracket because the tube and drum that support the screen door are installed above the garage door opener bracket within the garage. The various portions of the screen door are secured together with web material and the edges of the screen door are finished by sewing the web material to the screen door.
The screen door is provided with a bottom flap to secure the screen door to the garage floor when the screen door is in use. Also, just above the bottom flap, the screen door is provided with a bottom sleeve into which a pipe, tube, or other similar item can be inserted to provide a weight at the bottom of the screen door to further insure that the bottom of the screen door seals to the floor of the garage when the screen door is in use.
Optionally, hook and loop fasteners can be attached on the sides of the screen door and to the inside facing of the garage door opening as a means of removably securing the sides of the screen door to the opening when the screen door is in use.